Paper fight: in Russia they will punish for bureaucracy in schools
Rosobrnadzor plans to systematically organize meetings with representatives of regional authorities and school leaders where teachers face excessive amounts of paperwork. The main task of such meetings is to explain new approaches to interaction with teachers. If local managers begin to put pressure on education workers, Rosobrnadzor intends to take appropriate measures against them, said the head of the department, Anzor Muzaev. Izvestia investigated what specific measures can be taken to really reduce the amount of paper and reporting work for teachers.
Pressure reduction
The Federal Service for Supervision of Education is actively working to reduce the bureaucratic burden on teachers, Alexey Tishchenko, Ph.D. in Economics, a leading researcher at the Central Research Institute of the IPEI Presidential Academy, told Izvestia. The department's specialists carefully study the appeals of teachers, understand the specifics of the situation in each region and conduct explanatory conversations with the directors of educational institutions. When violations are detected, oversight structures and regional prosecutors are involved in the case, which allows solving the problem not formally, but on a comprehensive basis.
In addition, new recommendations are being developed to optimize document management in schools. Special attention is paid to digital tools that can facilitate reporting and reduce time for routine tasks. It is assumed that these measures will help teachers to focus more on the education and upbringing of children, rather than on paperwork.
— In order for the school to focus on the educational process rather than on the paperwork, it is important to strengthen the personal responsibility of managers. Tangible fines are needed for the heads of regional authorities and educational organizations for creating excessive reporting," the expert noted.
At the same time, it is necessary, according to him, to strengthen the role of Rosobrnadzor, giving it the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of management decisions both at the regional and school levels. We are talking about conducting an audit that will allow us to analyze how rationally the workload is distributed among teachers and how the reporting processes are structured. The main focus should shift from the number of prepared documents to the actual quality of the educational process and the creation of comfortable working conditions for teachers.
It is also important that such checks are not punitive, but analytical in nature, helping to identify systemic problems. Only with this approach can we achieve sustainable improvements in education management and reduce administrative pressure on teachers.
Smart digitalization
One of the most effective ways to reduce the amount of paper reporting in educational institutions is the introduction of digital tools for conducting all school processes, Peter Shcherbachenko, associate professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia. Before doing this, it is important to carefully analyze the existing document management system, identify redundant steps and reduce the number of unnecessary actions.
However, even with the transition to electronic forms, he said, there is often a requirement to duplicate reports on paper, which minimizes the benefits of digitalization. Therefore, it is necessary to completely abandon the parallel maintenance of paper journals and reports, ensuring the full functioning of electronic systems. This will avoid the need to print out documents after filling them out in digital format and will make the process much faster and more convenient.
Additionally, data protection and reliable storage of digital archives should be ensured so that teachers feel confident in the safety of information. It is also important to train school staff to work with electronic platforms and create a technical support service. This approach will simplify reporting and improve the quality of school management, freeing teachers from routine bureaucratic tasks.
— Any digital system is certainly a burden for the teacher. Filling it out takes time, and it is definitely worth considering in the time map. It is absolutely necessary to compensate for the additional digital work of teachers," the expert believes.
It is necessary to actively develop universal digital platforms for schools that will integrate all key processes, from planning the curriculum to maintaining student portfolios and certification procedures, Peter Shcherbachenko believes. Thanks to this system, the data will be filled in once and automatically used in the required forms, which will reduce the number of duplicate documents.
— Additionally, it is worth introducing competitions of best practices on the topic "Education without bureaucracy", held both at the federal and regional levels. Such initiatives will help identify successful solutions, motivate schools to share experiences and show how modern technologies can really facilitate teaching," he said.
The main focus in the education system should be on the teaching process itself, the teacher's working methods and the learning outcomes of schoolchildren, rather than on the number of documents prepared. To improve the effectiveness of management, you can implement an indicator that reflects the amount of reporting that is not directly related to the teacher's work, and use it for regular monitoring.
A monthly assessment of this parameter will help identify managers who effectively optimize bureaucratic processes and encourage them with additional incentives. This approach will create healthy competition between schools and will become an incentive for systemic changes in the educational environment.
The workload of teachers in different regions of Russia varies significantly — from 1.39 to 2 rates. The highest workload is observed in Tatarstan, Sevastopol and the Kemerovo region. When teachers are forced to work one and a half or even two hours, they have less time to prepare for lessons, work individually with students and self-development. This leads to increased fatigue, emotional burnout, and decreased work efficiency. In addition, the constant excess of normal hours can negatively affect the health of teachers and create an unfavorable atmosphere in educational groups.
The Ministry of Education forwarded Izvestia's request to Rosobrnadzor, but no response had been received at the time of publication.
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